Joint venture Electricity Alliance MSVE, which comprises energy and information technologies services provider VINCI Energies and leading construction, infrastructure and design business Morgan Sindall, has signed an Area Alliance Agreement with customer National Grid to deliver an overhead line construction programme across England and Wales.

The Area Alliance Agreement is effective from April 2012 and secures work for the first year of a possible five year programme.

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The joint venture has already been awarded its first project under this Area Alliance Agreement. The work entails reinsulating the 1960s Brinsworth to Thorpe Marsh 400kV overhead line near Doncaster. The team will design and install all the permanent equipment, including insulators and fittings and replace steelwork on all 57 towers. This project is worth about £5 million and will begin in April 2012, with a completion date of December 2012.

Electricity Alliance MSVE was awarded preferred bidder status for the Electricity Transmission Overhead Line partnership in November 2011. Since then it has invested in training UK and French employees to ensure that a guaranteed resource of qualified linesmen and engineers is available to carry out the specialist overhead line work.

(CD/GK)